The Broncos and left tackle Ryan Clady mutually decided Monday to end contract negotiations until after the 2012 season.

Clady will make $3.5 million in this, the final year of the five-year contract he signed as a rookie in 2008. The Broncos’ latest known offer to Clady was for five years and $50 million, with $28 million in guarantees.

The team’s proposal would have pulled Clady even with the New York Jets’ D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Washington’s Trent Williams as the fourth-highest-paid offensive tackle with an average annual value of $10 million. Only Jason Peters ($12.8 million), Joe Thomas ($11.5 million) and Jake Long ($10.6 million) would have made more.

“Although we want to reach an extension with Ryan, we are unable to do so at this time,” said John Elway, the Broncos’ executive vice president of football operations. “Now, our complete focus as an organization must turn toward having a successful 2012 season.

“We’re looking forward to Ryan playing a key role on our team this year and hope he will be a Bronco for many seasons to come.”

Clady declined to talk to the media after practice Monday night.

According to an NFL source, a major hangup from Clady’s side is that his $28 million guarantee through the first three years of the Broncos’ proposal was $3 million per year less than the $37 million guarantee Thomas received in his current deal with the Browns.

Also, Clady’s production when healthy (seasons of 2008, 2009 and 2011), the source said, was on par with that of Thomas and Long — and exceeded Peters.

Late last week, the Broncos set a Monday deadline for negotiations. Clady will be eligible for free agency at season’s end.

However, the Broncos can counter by applying the franchise tag, which is expected to have a $9.6 million salary for offensive tackles in 2013. The franchise tag would secure the 6-foot-6, 325-pound, nimble-footed Clady through the 2013 season.

Plenty of time remains for the Broncos to secure Clady for the long term.

Mike Klis was with The Denver Post from Jan. 1, 1998 before leaving in 2015 to join KUSA 9News. He covered the Rockies and Major League Baseball until the 2005 All-Star break, when he was asked to start covering the Broncos.

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